(Bloomberg) – Woodside Energy Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest natural gas exporter, said output slumped by more than a quarter in the three months through June after acyclonethat impacted operations and planned maintenance at its Pluto export plant.
Gas production fell by 27% from a year earlier in the second quarter, while total output declined 18% to 41.3 MMboe, Woodside said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. Average realized prices rose 44% in the period, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacted shipments from rival liquefied natural gas producers including Qatar.
“New gas supply from Australia is something that customers are very keen to see,” Chief Executive Officer Liz Westcott said in an interview. “They’re keen to be part of existing projects with offtake agreements” and to “participate in new supply,” she said.
TheScarboroughproject in Western Australia is 98% complete and on track for its first LNG in the fourth quarter, Woodside said. The Trion field off Mexico is targeting first oil in 2028, and Louisiana LNG aims for its first shipment by 2029.
“The key test will be executing on Scarborough’s fourth-quarter start-up to put gas volumes back on the expected growth trajectory,” said Rohan Bowater, analyst at Melbourne-based think tank Accela Research.
The company narrowed its full-year guidance to 174 million to 185 MMboe. LNG prices improved from the previous three months because of global supply constraints while price lags from the second quarter are expected to be realized in the period through September, Woodside said.
Woodside shares rose as much as 1.2% to A$32.68 as of 11:45 a.m. in Sydney after Brent crude oil gained as much as 4.8%.
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